The Brookhaven leader., 1887-11-10
ELECTRICITY IN MODERN WARFARE.
The Torpe 10 = Military Telegraph - Fir
inx Broadside- Other UseL
TCaW Y,r'-

in< Brosdside- - Other Use.
New Yori Sunl
The essay Of Lieut. b. A. Fiske, ofthe
navy, read befor the Franklin institute,
of the part played by electricity in war.
fare, shows it to he already a military
agent of high Importance, instead of a
power to he developed only in the
future
Probably few people appreciate the
fact that electrical torpedoes really date
back over forty years, to the time when
Col. Samuel Colt, in the presence of
President Tyler, Gen. Scott, and many
congressman, blew up vessels five
miles away by the use of an electric
wire. ong after, nevertheless, both in
uropean wars and in our own civil
conflict, combatants we're content to
rely chic V on the old mechanical mine.
which, when once fixed in channel for
the defense of harbor, blows up i'm
partially friend and foe Hereafter the
almost universal rule will be to plant
torpedoes that remain harmless until a
signal delivered through the electric
wire shows that the enemy is upon them,
which will instantly he responded to by
the return current from the firing bat
terry on shore. The harhor is then no
longer blocked to all friendly commerce
from the moment that torpedoes are
planted. N the other hand, electricity
may 'e m0'oyei also 10 detect the
presence O. fixed terpedoes In NOV
able torppdoas it exercises constant con-
troll over the weapon, directing it against
the enemy, and hence preventing him
from eva1iny il, as he NAV evade non
electrical torpedoas.
The toroelc. however, though lust
now the mos prominent military appli-
cation of electricity is only one OF
many. The military telegraph was
familiar in or civil war. where it had
its origin AMI now military telegraph
corps, with tn ,i- special apparatus fo-
lavin- wire at great speed form a part
Of all great armies The telephone sup
plcmerts the telegraph. and both instru-
ments are used in artillery practice to
track hostile vessels so as to determine
exactly when to ire on tham, and also to
register tie time of fight of pro ectiles.
Sine lieut.. Fiska saws that the pre-
else instant of start to within a thou
sandth of a second is recorded
for pro ectiles hv electricity, the
suggestion comes up whethsr
some apDlication o. electricity
will not one lay givc more accurate in
dicatiOns in racing than stop watches,
whose recorded "fths of a second are
sometimes looiei on with doubt on mar.
row euestiOns Of hr-atins records.
Electricity now Tres whole broad
sides of pro iigioiS guns at the touch o.
button, theraoy not only produ :in4
that absolutely simultaneous discharge,
which has hitherto not been known, hut
also elm mating the element of change
in aim pro 'uced by even an instaut's
roll of the ship during the slower
process of hand firing. Electricity also
can handle with ease heavy ordnance
in forts aud on s3iptoard: though this
must rather he ranked among its uses
hereafter to lie Developed.
lectricity examines the bore5 of guns
to ascertain their condition, and in the
powerful form of the electr o.dynamo
search light unveils in the drrkeSt night
secret movements alike on ship and
shore. OF beSegers and besipgel, tho
stealthy approach of the torpedo boat,
or the movement of q hostile column to
surprise fort AS a signal light it is
palpahl useful, while it can even be
made to confuse an enemy by throwing
upon him sudden alterations of blind
ing light and paraly ing darkness.
Launches have been driven by elec-
tricity, which 7rill, doubtless, on ac-
count of the ste !dy improvement of
storage batteries, one day wholly re-
place steam for this purpose. Electric
sights for ri'ed muSkets are now fur
nshed for night firing; and combined
with them aros nall lamps for illumirat
ing the target ubber bands fasten
these ingenious de ices to the marks
mans gun. There are also electric
rifles, in which the soldier presses
small button, therahy, unless he is a
very skillful marksman, gettinga better
aim than when he pulls trigger.
If, in addition to all these applica-
lions, ele tricity sholld furnish com
pact and not too heavy power for steer
ing military balloons, its contributions
to the art of war will be still more
remarkable.